October 11, 2012
Push for a spirometer in every doctor’s office?
Professional societies have encouraged primary care providers to conduct spirometry testing for the detection of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In spite of this effort, the success rate is unacceptably low. Simple flow-sensing spirometers have technical flaws that can cause misreadings, and they are rarely checked for accuracy. When spirometry is performed by an experienced…